Aspect ratio calculator › 9:16

9:16 Aspect Ratio Calculator

By the RatioForge team · Last updated July 2026

Use this 9:16 aspect ratio calculator for vertical video and phone-first images. The 9:16 shape fills a smartphone screen in portrait orientation, making it the standard for TikTok, Instagram Reels, Instagram Stories, YouTube Shorts and Snapchat-style content. Enter one dimension and calculate the other before you crop, export or design overlays.

9:16 calculator

Common 9:16 resolutions

9:16 formula

• height = width × 16 ÷ 9
• width = height × 9 ÷ 16
• Example: 1080px wide → 1080 × 16 ÷ 9 = 1920px high.

Worked example. You want a Full HD vertical export and know the width should be 1080 px. Height = 1080 × 16 ÷ 9 = 1920 px, giving 1080×1920. Going the other way, a 1920 px-tall Story needs 1920 × 9 ÷ 16 = 1080 px wide. To confirm a file is already 9:16, divide both sides by their greatest common divisor — 1080 and 1920 share a GCD of 120, and 1080÷120 : 1920÷120 = 9:16.

Best uses for vertical 9:16

9:16 is the portrait counterpart to 16:9. Instead of being wide, the frame is tall: 9 units wide for every 16 units high. That makes it ideal for feeds where people hold the phone upright and expect the video to fill the screen.

If you start with a horizontal 16:9 clip, converting it to 9:16 usually means cropping the sides, reframing around the subject, or placing the original footage over a blurred vertical background. If you know the final placement is TikTok, Reels or Shorts, shooting and editing in 9:16 from the start is cleaner.

A 9:16 canvas is not just a rotated widescreen video; it changes how the subject is framed. Faces, product shots and text overlays need to stay near the centre, because platform UI often covers the edges. The calculator gives you the correct pixel dimensions — you still design within the safe visual area.

The numbers stay predictable at any size. A 720px-wide export needs a height of 1280px, a 1080px width needs 1920px, and a 1440px width needs 2560px — matching HD, Full HD and QHD vertical exports. If your project is horizontal video instead, switch to the 16:9 aspect ratio calculator. Short-form creators can also use the Instagram aspect ratio calculator and the social media image sizes guide for per-platform dimensions.

9:16 sizes for every platform

Every major short-form app has converged on the same 9:16 export: 1080×1920. Uploading at that size means the video fills the screen without the platform re-encoding a mismatched shape. The differences between apps are in duration, safe areas and how high you can push the resolution, not the ratio itself.

Converting 16:9 to 9:16

Turning a horizontal clip vertical is not a rotation — it is a hard side crop. Keep the full height of a 1920×1080 source and the widest 9:16 slice it can hold is only 608×1080 (608 = 1080 × 9 ÷ 16). That is roughly the centre 32% of the original width; everything on the left and right is discarded. To reach a full-resolution 1080×1920 you then scale that centre band up.

Worked example. A 1920×1080 talking-head clip becomes vertical by cropping to the middle 608 px, then scaling to 1080×1920. If your subject was framed on the left third of the widescreen shot, that crop cuts them off — so reframe around the subject first, or drop the footage onto a blurred 1080×1920 background to keep the whole scene visible.

Why phones are not exactly 9:16

9:16 is the shape apps ask for, but very few phones are actually 9:16 anymore. Most modern handsets are taller: around 19.5:9 on recent iPhones and 20:9 on many Android models. A true 9:16 video is therefore a little shorter than the physical screen, so the app either adds thin bars above and below it or zooms in slightly to fill edge to edge. Exporting at 1080×1920 is still correct — the platform handles the small difference — but it explains why your video never lines up pixel-for-pixel with the display.

Keep your subject in the safe area

A 9:16 frame is tall, but the platform interface covers parts of it. Captions, the username, the like and share buttons and the progress bar sit over the bottom and right edges. Keep faces, product shots, logos and any on-screen text within the centre — roughly the middle 80% of the frame — so nothing important is hidden behind the UI. The exact overlay differs per app, so preview your export in TikTok, Reels and Shorts before publishing rather than trusting a single safe-area guide.

Frequently asked questions

Related calculators and guides

• Aspect ratio calculator — the main calculator with custom ratios
• TikTok aspect ratio calculator — full-screen vertical video
• Instagram aspect ratio calculator — posts, Reels and Stories placements
• YouTube aspect ratio calculator — videos, Shorts and thumbnails
• Social media image sizes — recommended dimensions per platform